


Hold Me

by mayaaminmin



Category: Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi, Legacy of Orïsha - Tomi Adeyemi
Genre: Death, Dreams, F/F, Fuck Inan, Hurt Zélie Adebola, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Death, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, No Zélie/Inan, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22233685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayaaminmin/pseuds/mayaaminmin
Summary: Zélie's demons haunt her in her sleep, and Amari offers her some comfort to get through the night.
Relationships: Zélie Adebola/Amari Olúborí
Comments: 10
Kudos: 14





	Hold Me

The black chains silence me, they take my magic away.

The sharp dagger cuts me, they take my pride away.

Saran taunts me, he takes my mother away.

Inan ignores me, he takes my father away.

They take and take and take and take and _take_

When will they stop taking from me?

I have nothing left.

My hands are covered in blood; it's the blood of everyone that died for me.

Lekan, Zu, Kwame, Baba, Mama

Tzain lies in a pool of dark blood, his hand grips mine weakly.

"Zélie... help me..."

My brother coughs and blood sprays from his mouth.

He is dead. Everyone I love is dead.

No no no no no no nonononononono!

"Tzain! Come back!" I cry, my tears mix with the blood as I clutch my head, calling on any ashé I have left. 

Oya please! Help me!

I try willing their spirits to fill their bodies once more, like Mama once did to Tzain, but I cannot do anything. 

My magic is useless.

I am useless.

"Don't leave me here!" I clutch Tzain's body close as I cry and mourn the people I lost too soon.

I don't know how long I kneel over Tzain's corpse. How long I cry at the injustice. How long I imagine killing Saran with my bare hands.

It has been ten minutes or ten days. Time doesn't matter. They're all gone.

"Zélie! Wake up!"

I gasp and thrash as I realize someone is gripping my shoulders tightly.

I try to fight as I am roughly shaken. I cannot see past my tears, but I recognize those eyes. It is Inan, he will take me back to King Saran. 

No. 

"Please! I can't take it! Just kill me!"

Sobs rack my body as the hands release me and I curl into myself as warm hands gently tuck my hair away.

"Shhh... it's okay, Zélie. You're not going anywhere. I promise you."

It takes me a moment to realize it is not Inan speaking to me, soothing me. It takes me a few moments more to process the words and realize who is speaking them.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, Zélie. I'm here. Breathe, Zélie, breathe."

Amari. I force my eyes open and meet her amber gaze. The only similarity she shared with her brother, aside from the streak in her hair. Her warm eyes bore into mine and ground me as I force myself to take slow, deep breaths. She gently wipes my tears away and shushes me as I continue to sob. She massages my scalp in soothing motions as I try to match her breathing and erase the memory of the nightmare from my mind.

When I have calmed down, I open my arms in a wordless request and Amari lies down beside me. We embrace each other tightly. It is the dead of the night and all is quiet, save for our breaths and the thrum of the newly awakened magic in Orïsha running under our skin.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," I whisper with a rasp. I gently caress the streak of white in her hair, a stark contrast to the rest of her lush, dark waves. 

"It's alright," she replies, but her eyes are still weary with sleep, "I was having trouble sleeping, anyway."

"I'm sorry. Did I overwhelm you?" I ask, but I already know the truth. Amari never lies to me, and her silence is answer enough.

"You don't have to stay here with me."

"But I want to," Amari says, and then gently cups my cheek and rubs soothing circles onto my skin, "let me help you, my love."

I meet her eyes and nod wordlessly, then I lean forward until our foreheads touch. Her presence is comforting and seems to shove away all of my fears and worries. I do not know if she is using her newfound powers to soothe my mind, but I do not care. She is here, with me, and that is enough. We say nothing and everything as we hold each other close and I drift off into my first night of restful slumber in her arms.

**Author's Note:**

> I hate the Zélie/Inan plotline. I needed some comfort after all this poor girl's been through, and she's definitely not getting it from that dipshit. Amari is a good girl, I love her and I will protect her.


End file.
